On Monday, Bradley Chief of Police Brian Joschko provided crisis training to students in case of an active shooter on campus.
The training, sponsored by Kappa Delta, Phi Tau and BUPD, was open to all students. It focused on previous active shooter events, how to protect yourself and preventative measures to take.
From 2007 to 2008, Joschko worked at Marquette University in Milwaukee where he trained officers to respond to active shooters.
According to Joschko, the campus police work with the local police on response training. At least once a year, the officers engage in a realistic simulation of an active shooter scenario.
Joschko based his presentation on information provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
“I learned a lot from it,” said sophomore psychology major Megan Bryk. “Now I know to hide, run or fight.”
The hide, run or fight technique is a suggested guide to surviving an active shooter event. Students should run for safety if they believe they can leave the area safely. If running is not an option, students should find somewhere to quietly hide. As a last resort, students should use any nearby materials to fight off the shooter.
“I realized for the first time that it could happen anywhere; even here and now, I feel prepared if it did,” said junior nursing major Katie Karlin.
Joschko also noted that students should comply with all directions from the police in the event of an active shooter. As soon as a student finds a safe location, he or she should call the emergency police line and describe the situation with as much detail as possible.
Once the police arrive (the average response time is around three minutes) students should keep their hands open and in the air. This procedure helps officers to find the suspect more efficiently.
“I think it was great that this presentation was made available to us, and I really think it should have been mandatory to attend,” said sophomore health science major Maggie Thon.
All information provided during the presentation is located on the Bradley webpage under Emergency Info.